


Samphire

by Verse



Series: Teethk au [4]
Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02
Genre: Body Horror, Gen, Guilt, Temporary Character Death, Transformation, Trauma, disturbing imagery, ken pov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-03 17:44:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14574225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Verse/pseuds/Verse
Summary: Ken's wake-up call come in the form of a fist to his face, teeth at his throat and blood on his floor.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This first chapter is really just a rewrite of the actual canon scene so feel free to skip it

For the longest time, Ken hates those meddling kids.

Well, hate is not quite the right word; it’s a potent mix of anger, annoyance, disdain and disgust similar to what one might feel toward insects. Annoying meddling pests, ruining his plans and slowing him down.

TK brings his hand to his bloody cheek, casually, face calm and unflinching despite the fresh sting of the whip.

“When you don’t know what to say, do you always resort to fighting?”

TK’s words spear through Ken’s heart like a well-sharpened dagger, bringing back a long forgotten feeling.

“See, that’s your problem. You don’t know when to talk and when to fight.” TK says, features soft and fingers red, and for all his time spent on this land of monsters and chains Ken can’t help but feel  _unease_  at this sight. His breath speeds up slightly at the jarring sight, at this boy no older than he is disregarding completely his own wounds.

“Now would be a good time to talk.” Doesn’t he know who Ken is? Doesn’t he know what he has done? How can he be almost  _friendly_  about all of this? Why isn’t he afraid? 

…Does he believe himself so much more dangerous than Ken?

“On the other hand…”

TK smiles.

**FEAR. FEAR. FEAR. FEAR.**

“ _Now is also a good time to fight._ ”

The punch throws him back with violence. Another follows suit, shoving him on the floor and hitting his head hard on the ground. A weight crash on him painfully, hands grabbing and scratching and hitting everywhere they can grasp-

He hears is a beastly, primal growl carried by TK’s voice. And then, all he can see are  _teeth_.


	2. consequences

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning for disturbing content

Ken rushes through the corridor, feet beating the ground in sync with his heart in his chest,  _pitter patter pitter patter_. Wormmon struggles to follow, but for once Ken is too preoccupied to be irritated by it.

He’ll deal with those worthless insects himself. He will  _crush_  them, break their spirit to pieces so they can finally  _leave him alone_.

The bite on his arm stings.

(He shoves the fear at the bottom of his heart. The emperor isn’t scared. He’s  _not_.)

He arrives just in time to see Chimeramon narrowly missing two of those pests. A smirk makes its way on Ken’s panting face. They really  _are_  stupid. What did they expect, to body check his creation? They don’t even have any digimon left standing!

Ken dusts his clothes and stands straight. He opens his mouth to shout a taunt and make his presence known- show these kids just  _who_  they’re dealing with.

Chimeramon’s next hit does not miss.

It’s different. The body does not scatter; it does not spread into dust. Simply, the boy goes really, really still.

For a second, the world turns numb. As if Ken was watching through one of his monitors again- as if the body flying across the room was made of one and zeroes, rather than flying blood and fragile fragile bones that go  _crack_  when they meet the wall. As if he could just shut the screen down or rewind at any moment.

Then time resumes, and-

Ken’s world turns to statics.

A violent light like a hundred eyes, stripping him bare, staring past his clothes and skin and body. He throws an arm up, to protect his face; but he can’t escape that terrible gaze, this holy sight picking him apart and judging him and weighting his soul. It’s burning and freezing and tearing him apart and then-

_**water** _

in his chest, in his lungs, in his throat, dripping out of his mouth, can’t  _breathe_ -

and this cruel light like a thousand jaws, tearing at his being, trying to wring this ocean out of him-

His knees give up beneath him, hitting stone and sand and water all at once. Something  _crawls_  under his skin like worms, spreading across his back and feeding off him and  _blooming_ , pumping and pumping his life out of him.

He’s dying. He’s dying. He’s dying. Every attempted breath bring him to the deepest agony, as the sea keeps  _pouring_  between his jaws, tries to empty itself into this world without any regard for his life.

He does not remember passing out. Maybe he doesn’t. Maybe he does die. Maybe he ceases to exist completely, flickering at the crossroad between uncaring light  and hungry worms and choking ocean.

Processing his surroundings come back slowly to him; first, the insistent poking of Wormmon’s legs on his back. His begging to  _please, please wake up Ken, come back to me_. The strong taste of salt on his tongue. Air.

God,  _air_.

He takes inhales deeply and forces himself on his back. He’s laying in a pool of water. Seawater. There’s something else, scattered around, poking under him. He seizes one to examine it. It takes him a few second to see past his blurry vision, but it appears to be- a leaf, of all things.

What happened to him?

He pushes himself to his elbows- with difficulties. His everything hurt. His face, his arm, his chest. He has to lean on the wall to stay upright. Slowly, he makes his way to the storage room.

Chimeramon is gone. So are the kids.

The puddle of blood, however, is not.

Ken retches. His glasses fall off his nose at the sudden jerk, to break on the ground.

_What did he do?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not a good day to be emperor


	3. Tryptich

The first to find him is the small one.

The dark spiral crumbles easily under Stingmon's fist. It's a very satisfying sight; the cracks spread in the structure, then the tower tilts, and with a  _kabooom_  it hits the ground.

It's there, from the falling dust cloud, that the kid emerges.

He stares at Ken, face nothing but surprise- raised eyebrows, wide eyes, the whole sheebang. Digmon's gaze goes from Ken to the tower back to Ken, obviously confused.

The kid opens his mouth. "You-"

Ken runs.

* * *

 

The second one is the tall one.

This time, she's looking for him, he thinks, because the moment he's spotted Holsmon changes course and charges right at him.

" _You're_  the one who has been destroying dark spirals." she says, almost accusatory. Ken had always been under the impression that she was not one to dance around.

"...Yes." He holds Wormmon closer to his chest. He's scared, a little. But he knows nothing she can do to him will be undeserved.

" _Why_?"

Ken blinks.

"I have to fix this. All of- this." his own stupidity and cruelty- it's his responsibility and his alone to wipe it off the map.

The girl's eyes narrow. Judging. "You think this will suddenly make you a good guy? You think you can get  _forgiveness_?"

"No." Wormmon squirms, in his arms- Wormmon had already forgiven him, he'd said, long ago. But even if the entire universe did, Ken doesn't think he'll be able to forgive himself. "But not doing anything would be worse."

* * *

The third one is  **him**.

"Ichijouji?" The boy trots toward him, a wide smile on his face- sharp, sharp teeth, equal parts threat and welcome. "Heard you were on our side now!"

He sound happy, here- upbeat. Genuinely glad to see him, it seems- as if the boy wasn't supposed to be  _dead_.

Ken stumbles to get away, backing off quickly. He's supposed to be dead. He's supposed to be  _dead_. Red and red and hanging on sharp claws, limp and still and  _dead_ \- cracking breaking spine and screeching tires, a panicked honk and a scream and  _red_ -

 _ **Water**_.

"ICHIJOUJI!"

Palms meet his cheek violently, forcing him away from the vision. Red eyes stare into his own, filled with determination.

There is something in those eyes. Something bright and holy and  _deranged_.

"Breathe with me." The girl says. Only now does Ken realizes he's hyperventilating. "Breathe with me."

He tries. Slowly, he manages to trace the girl- breathe in, pause, breathe out, rince and repeat. It's not easy, but his head is swimming and he clings on those simple instructions like his lifeline.

(and those eyes, those eyes are still looking at him. He does not want to disappoint those eyes. There's something buried deep beneath the red. He does not want to dig it up.)

"There, there." she says, rubbing her thumbs on his temples. "You any better?"

"I killed him." the words bubble out on their own. But now that they've come out, they keep flowing- in a stream, in a river, in a flood that leave his tongue tasting of salt. "You- I- I  _killed_  you. You were  _dead_. I  _ **killed**_  you."

He's crying, now. Ken can breathe, in hiccups, but tears run down his cheeks without his consent. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Oh, god,  _I'm so sorry."_

He apologizes. Over. And over. And over.

He knows he deserves no forgiveness. They deserve the opportunity to deny it to him anyway.

Ken doesn't know how much time pass- most likely less than a minute, at most. But suddenly there's *warmth* on his shoulder- like a cup or tea in winter. He raises his head, and through blurring tears he recognizes Motomiya.

Oh, god. He'd hurt the guy so bad. He'd  _enjoyed_  causing him pain.

Takaishi is the one made of teeth, but Ken has no doubts that he is the real monster among them.

"Go home, Ichijouji." Motomiya's voice is soft like water and hits him harsher than ice. "Go home."

Ken shakes his head. "I can't, I can't, I- I have to fix this. I have to fix this."

Warmth again, under his chin- forcing him to look at the goggle boy. "Go home, Ichijouji. Your parents are worried about you."

Wormmon pulls at his leg, gently. "Let's go home, Ken."

Home.

Perhaps... perhaps it is time, for him.

**Author's Note:**

> Ken's pov on things! Being Ken is Suffering.  
> the tumblr's versegm folks!


End file.
